About Us
ABOUT US
Akwaaba and welcome to Akan Republic where we love everything about handmade baskets and accessories. My name is Felix Gyamfi and I am the creator of this brand and Julian Frimpong is my partner. I would like to use this opportunity to talk to you about Akan Republic.
Short history
My journey began in Ghana where I was born and moved to Europe in my late teens. I’ve always entertained the idea of being self-employed, this is because I have always been drawn to developing products for sale.
This excitement of being an entrepreneur continues to drive me to date. I like to watch an idea materialise into something positive and I take great joy in making my customers happy.
The Brand Name
Akan is my ethnicity making it the brand's cultural and origin story. Most of our designs will draw inspiration from this background. The "Republic" simply represents our respect and belief in Equality. This is one of our core principles within the Akan Republic family and our partners. The symbols around our logo are called ADINKRA. Behind each symbol is a name, story and value.
The idea started taking shape with a simple question “What happened to all the market baskets?”Market baskets fulfilled many roles when I was growing up in Ghana, we used it for our daily shopping trips because it was easy to carry on the head or by hand. Also, handmade woven products were used as decorative baskets, rugs, sleeping mats, storage and shopping baskets just to mention a few. Like many African countries, these baskets are made from Elephant Grass which grows very easily in many regions of Ghana.
We solely focus on handmade products using materials that are biodegradable and processes that are nature-friendly. Our ethical journey has just begun and it is a beautiful blend of culture and art. We will continue to bring you many more vibrant colours and amazing designs stretching across the entire Akan empire. It is also our mission to make available more sustainable products to customers who subscribe to the idea of using eco-friendly products. No effort is too small when doing one's bit to help the environment.
We design our products and our weavers bring it to life. We work together throughout the design and weaving stages and the relationship with our weavers is like that of a family. We prefer handmade not just because of the quality end result but also the human touch that our products are exposed to. We are also able to create employment in the regions we operate. The choice of handmade allows us to make our baskets with care and transfer this energy onto our customers. Each basket tells its own story and no two handmade baskets are precisely the same. At Akan Republic we embrace our imperfections.
So hop on board as we go on this amazing journey and become part of our family.